HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Brittney Lindgren (3), Vanessa Veloz (4) and Ashley Humbert (2) are in on this play in a Southern Nevada Class 3-A League volleyball match at home Tuesday against Overton Moapa Valley. The Pirates edged the Trojans, 3-2. Advertisement

Pahrump Valley's volleyball team, a five-set loser to visiting Overton Moapa Valley Tuesday, plays at home today in a Southern Nevada Class 3-A League match against Mesquite Virgin Valley, with defeat not an option.

The best-of-five contest starts at 5 p.m. Moapa Valley is 2-0 in the league, with its next match today against Faith Lutheran.

With six Southern Nevada Class 3-A League matches remaining, coach Amy Hart's team is 0-2 and needs no less than a split in those meetings to qualify for the regionals, to be played Nov. 2 at Boulder City.

Which means the Lady Trojans have to beat Virgin Valley tonight and go at least 2-3 in the remaining matches -- at home Tuesday against Boulder City and Friday against defending league and regional champion Las Vegas Faith Lutheran, at Virgin Valley Oct. 16, at Boulder City Oct. 25 and at Moapa Valley Oct. 29.

A 3-5 record would be the minimum needed to make the playoffs this fall. Only the top four teams qualify for the regionals.

Losing to Moapa Valley's relatively small, but quick and strong Pirates put that pressure on the PVHS girls. Moapa Valley prevailed 19-25, 25-14, 26-24, 25-27, 15-11 in a match that took more than two hours to complete.

In the decisive fifth game, the Trojans led 11-10 after a kill by junior middle hitter Kristi Daffer. But the Pirates took advantage of three unforced errors to jump ahead 13-11 before Hart called a time out.

Moapa Valley, however, got another point off a misplay and closed it out when the ball deflected off a PV defender's hands before it sailed out of bounds.

Kasi Delgadillo sparked the Pirates in the first three games with her jumping and hitting ability that resulted in several kills that knocked the PV girls back on their heels.

In the fourth game, Daffer blocks and kills resulted in a 7-2 run that overcame a 23-20 deficit. A kill and block by Daffer closed out the game.

The first game was a thriller from start to finish, with one rally lasting more than a minute as Trojans and Pirates alike chased down the volleyball to dig it out for clutch saves or set assists.

Moapa Valley dominated the next two games; at 20-14, the Pirates went on a 5-0 run, mostly off PV misplays.

In Game Three, the Trojans led 24-22, but three wayward hits allowed Moapa Valley to go on a 4-0 run to prevail.